Hanbury Street Back yard photo

[The Grave Maurice]

Just watched The London Nobody Knows and saw James Mason in the yard. Is there anyone cooler than him?

Doubt it. The jacket, the cap, the brolly: perfect. The guy had a lot of class. I hear that John Bennett can do a pretty good impression of him, but I haven't had the advantage of seeing it.

[The Grave Maurice]

Seeing that picture re-enforces my belief that Richardson was lying through his teeth at the inquest.

Why, exactly?

[The Grave Maurice]

Was that photo taken from a scaffold?

Good point, Stan. The picture is taken from an odd angle, isn't it. If John is right about the time of the photo, maybe it was taken from a crane brought in to carry out the demolition.

[Magpie]

Why, exactly?

Because even without the wooden cover over the door, there's just no way that Richardson could have checked the cellar padlock without coming down the steps into the yard. None.

[The Grave Maurice]

Jeez, that's a good point. I thought you were going to say that, if he sat on the step, he wouldn't have been able to see the body to his left. Hmmm. Maybe we should all move Richardson a notch or two up the suspect list.

[Stephen Thomas]

The picture is taken from an odd angle, isn't it. If John is right about the time of the photo, maybe it was taken from a crane brought in to carry out the demolition.

Hi GM

There was a 3 storey factory which occupied the garden space of nos. 31 and 33 Hanbury Street so the photo was probably taken from there.

[Stephen Thomas]

I think the above should read nos. 33 and 35 Hanbury Street.

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

Because even without the wooden cover over the door, there's just no way that Richardson could have checked the cellar padlock without coming down the steps into the yard. None.

Mrs. Richardson, recalled… My son now comes to see whether it is all right almost every morning before he goes to market. [Coroner] Do you understand that he goes down to the cellar door? [Mrs. Richardson] No, he can see from the steps.
The Eastern Post, Saturday September 15, 1888.

Wolf.

[Rixa]

I have Streets of East London, and was going to ask about that back yard photo some day. Looks like I was spared the effort.

I like the picture, wish it was in better quality. Wasn't it mentioned in another thread that the black Jack the Ripper board is back in Ten Bells after a lengthy break? Perhaps they still have this board in store as well.

Meanwhile, I just placed an order on the James Mason documentary. I had no idea that such footage existed.

[Jason]

the james mason documentary footage is just amazing ! when Stewart Evans talks about first visiting hanbury Street back in the 60s i can really see what must have been so captivating. I have always wondered whether that lady in the video actually lived there or was put there for the benefit of letting JM in the property. Were these properties purchased on a compulsary basis when the decision was made to knock them down ?

[Magpie]

Mrs. Richardson, recalled… My son now comes to see whether it is all right almost every morning before he goes to market. [Coroner] Do you understand that he goes down to the cellar door? [Mrs. Richardson] No, he can see from the steps.
The Eastern Post, Saturday September 15, 1888.

Wolf.

Exactly, Wolf. Now look at the how deep the doorway is in the picture, then add the wooden cover to that. There's no way Richardson just poked his head out the door (at dawn, no less) and checked the lock.


Also, it looks like Mrs. Richardson was referring to the steps to the cellar, rather than the steps from the back door.

[The Grave Maurice]

Thanks for finding that quote, Wolf. We all remember, more or less, what Richardson said, but it's handy to have the actual text. Still, Magpie makes a very good point: the basement door, from the photo, appears to have been recessed to an extent that it would have been difficult for Richardson to see a lock simply by peering down from the back door of the house.

And my comments in post #20 were badly phrased. What I meant to say was that, if Richardson sat on the step, it would have been virtually impossible, even in half-light, for him not to notice whether or not a body was lying to his left.

[Raoul's Obsession]

[Coroner] Did you go into the yard? - No, the yard door was shut. I opened it and sat on the doorstep, and cut a piece of leather off my boot with an old table-knife, about five inches long. I kept the knife upstairs at John-street. I had been feeding a rabbit with a carrot that I had cut up, and I put the knife in my pocket. I do not usually carry it there. After cutting the leather off my boot I tied my boot up, and went out of the house into the market. I did not close the back door. It closed itself. I shut the front door.
[Coroner] How long were you there? - About two minutes at most.
[Coroner] Was it light? - It was getting light, but I could see all over the place.
[Coroner] Did you notice whether there was any object outside? - I could not have failed to notice the deceased had she been lying there then. I saw the body two or three minutes before the doctor came. I was then in the adjoining yard. Thomas Pierman had told me about the murder in the market. When I was on the doorstep I saw that the padlock on the cellar door was in its proper place.


Personally, I disagree. I think it is clear from his statement that he didn't just look out the door at the cellar. My interpretation is that he went out to at least the doorstep - which we could even take as the bottom of the three steps without him being a liar. Now, if the latch is on the left hand side of the cellar door, I don't think the recess of the door is so far as to be prohibittive of him seeing it. I think all of this is consistent with his statements. I think this is one of those situations where we, 120 years later, cannot make a definitive case one way or the other - I think it's too close to tell.

Raoul

[Magpie]

Raoul: that was Richardson statement at the inquest--after he'd had some time to think about things. Here's what he told Chandler at the scene:

Coroner] Did you see John Richardson? - I saw him about a quarter to seven o'clock. He told me he had been to the house that morning about a quarter to five. He said he came to the back door and looked down to the cellar, to see if all was right, and then went away to his work.
[Coroner] Did he say anything about cutting his boot? - No.
[Coroner] Did he say that he was sure the woman was not there at that time? - Yes.
By the Jury: The back door opens outwards into the yard, and swung on the left hand to the palings where the body was. If Richardson were on the top of the steps he might not have seen the body. He told me he did not go down the steps.

[Raoul's Obsession]

aha... very interesting indeed.
I'm still unconvinced though - I'm not convinced that Chandler interpreted the intent of the questions the same way that we are using them now. This is an issue that sweeps through much of the testimony that we talk about on these boards. I think his statement to Chandler is consistent with his statement that he didn't go down to the cellar to check the lock itself. The difference appears to be in whether he stood on the top step only, or moved one or two steps further - I don't think Richardson would have seen the importance of a difference in these two as in either case he would (or should) have been able to see a body next to the steps. I take his statement to Chandler not as being inconsistent, but rather, being a shorter re-telling of the circumstances.

Ultimately, he is probably as honest a (nonPC) witness as you will get in this case. He has a legitimate reason for being there and no reason for lying (unless you want to suggest he's JR - though I think that would be a murder that's a little too close to home).

Raoul